12 posts from June 2008

Monday, June 30, 2008

The information gained from Lesson 1: Assessment will help a company focus on specific areas for making changes in their day to day business operations. One of the major areas where a company can and must improve is in utilizing technology.

Technology has made it easier for smaller and larger companies to improve business and business processes to a degree never before seen. From Internet advertising to using software to automate functions, from instituting Standard Operating Procedures to formatting e-mail communications, technology saves a company time and money.

Friday, June 27, 2008

By determining the answers to the questions posed in the introduction to this series, I believe companies will gain the necessary detailed view of their current state of operations. With this assessment, they can then determine where they would like to be. They will be better able to:

Identify areas that are in need of improvement - are products and services competitive in today’s market? What is the value they create in customers' lives?

Develop new ideas, opportunities and revenue streams – are there new markets for our products? How can we market to different audiences?

Create a strategy for change management

Translate that strategy into an actual plan with defined action steps

Manage information, relationships and talent

This analysis can be done internally or by bringing in outside consultants. Outside consultants being a part from the political structure and day to day operations of a client's organization are better able to provide a unbiased assessment of those operations and design objective solutions.

Furthermore, the above categories can then be broken down into specific areas of focus for making changes:

Utilizing Technology

Marketing themselves in new ways

Developing new markets for products and services

Making decisions and implementing them company wide

Trouble shooting problems

Developing employee skills at all levels

Asking questions and implementing different solutions will increase a company’s ability to survive and thrive in the global economy today.

Smaller Japanese and U.S. firms need to maximize efficiency in business processes in order to compete, differentiate themselves and create new opportunities.

Lesson 2 of our Reinvention series will appear on Monday: Utilizing Technology.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

SONY is a company with traditions that are valid and vital to its success. It is also operating in a changed world where even large established companies now have to employ “start-up” methods to be and stay competitive.

When SONY was originally founded, it was revolutionary. Each chapter of growth in the company’s history was marked by the same spirit. Its time to start anew again. Time to develop and foster new ways of thinking. In reading various articles about Sir Howard Stringer, SONY’s Chief Executive, I think that is what he is attempting to do. No easy feat but one that must be attempted.

I watched Mr. Stringer’s (Sir Howard) 60 Minutes’ interview a couple of years ago and was immediately impressed. In that moment, I stated that I wanted SONY and Sir Howard as a client. That didn’t happen -- well not yet anyway. I was excited that a foreigner was going to head one of Japan’s largest companies. I was glad that SONY was being the innovative leader that it always has been by taking this bold, unprecedented step.

When Mr. Stringer said "SONY is a company with great traditions and that taking care of that culture was important", I knew that he knew he was in for quite a time but saw that he was willing to try to do what needed to be done and was ready to take the heat (so to speak) that would come from it. He realized that he was going to have to find ways to work around or improve on those traditions (in the most respectful way possible) if he was to keep SONY thriving.

In that same interview, Professor Hirotaka Takeuchi, the Dean of Hitotsubashi ICS in Tokyo, stated that SONY needed to "stay hungry and stay foolish". I agree with him. Not only SONY, all Japanese companies need to.

Back to Basics

How does a huge company like SONY or any large Japanese company think like a ‘hungry’ new start-up? By employing methods that giant corporations stopped using when they became giants. They need to get back to basics by:

Developing and fostering new ways of thinking - unleash the creativity in your employees.

Having open communication - Involve workers in a new level of information sharing with the opportunity to be instrumental in creating and supporting an environment of change and growth

Developing that “we are all in this together”, “us against the world” mentality

Finding the next big idea or improving on an old one: Companies never utilize the full potential of an employee – find ideas where they are not just where they should be. For example: In a design firm, have brainstorming sessions in non-design department.

Creating programs and workshops - Keep developing talent and ideas on all levels, all the time.

Sir Howard knows that he needs to take chances, try new things and mix it up a bit. Some will work and some won't. In the spirit of why I write this blog, I hope that all his chances pay off because he is doing what needs to be done.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Small to mid-size Japanese companies require specialized assistance that is not readily available, accessible or affordable when seeking to do business internationally. The same is also true for smaller U.S. firms seeking to do business in Japan as well.

In the prosperous years with large numbers of Japanese firms sending a multitude of workers to the U.S., a whole host of enterprising Japanese companies were formed to cater to the needs of these companies and their workers. But with the long recession came downsizing of offices and closures and fewer business opportunities for these companies.

How are they coping? Are they still trying to cater to that specific Japanese market and seeing their revenues and opportunities shrink year after year? Are they branching out and offering services to non-Japanese firms? Is diversification in product/service offerings part of their business strategy?

Friday, June 20, 2008

How are companies to recruit now that talent is hard to find? And prices so high? Be creative. Thinking out of the box has been the buzz words of late but it is true. The new world so to speak makes it necessary. I go one step further – there is no box. Just free form thinking. This is how people of the “new mindset” are creating solutions these days.

Here are five suggestions as promised for Japanese and U.S. firms to find talent of the highest persuasion without spending the greatest amount of money.

1.) Utilize business networking sites that allow you to post jobs

You might have to screen a lot more resumes but you can enter them in a database and use keywords to further narrow the pool of candidates so you will only have to deal with the ones that fit your requirements. Business networking sites such as LinkedIn might be a good start.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

In January, my company was approached by a recruiter seeking assistance in filling Japanese technology positions for a large client. This client’s job requirements read three pages with the addition of level one proficiency in Japanese reading and writing. As of the beginning of June, the positions had not been filled.

Are companies expecting too much, I wondered. In the interest of full disclosure I must admit to my readers that although I do speak Japanese pretty fluently, I am not the strongest reader or writer of Japanese.

For foreigners who are fluent in reading, writing and speaking Japanese as well as advanced in programming languages, I applaud you. I know that the limited number of you have already been snatched up by big Japanese and U.S. firms already and I hope they are paying you your weight in gold for what you have accomplished is not an easy thing.

For the companies that are seeking positions that require these two highly advanced levels of skill, let me wish you the best of luck. You are in for a pretty hard time. The demand is high and the supply is limited. Most Japanese people who are fluent in English and have the technological skills you require are also already taken.

I had been receiving Tim's newsletter on entrepreneurship in Japan for a while and had been in contact with him. I listened to his presentation and immediately went out and bought his book. Finally, someone was writing about what I believed in and was building a business on - the changes taking place on different levels in Japanese businesses. These changes were being lead by the 'new thinkers' and entrepreneurs as well a some larger companies that were doing things differently and having great success.

Large Japanese manufacturers have long dominated their markets, but in terms of Japanese consumer service providers, there was an absence of Japanese from the international market. Tim and Carl examined the history and future of Japan’s service sector in their book and offered innovative ways for outsiders to take advantage of the huge opportunities in the Japanese system. They provided profiles of innovators from around the world who were using their “outsider” perspectives and some Japanese as well to successfully identify basic customer needs in areas such as real estate, finance, and health care that were not being met.

Friday, June 13, 2008

In Part 1 and Part 2, I wrote of the importance planning and of understanding the current or AS-IS state of the client’s operations. Now I will share with you how we were able to help our client get to where they wanted to be.

What is missing? This is a good question to ask whether in business or in life. If this client was doing a, b, and c and getting only x and y results but needed z results as well, what was needed to get them there? We evaluated the necessary changes that were required in order to bridge their current state and desired future state.

Our client was doing a great deal but was missing something in their processes. They were almost doing too much in some areas and not enough in others. We needed to modify some procedures, get rid of ineffective ones and add new ones . For their future state, they were seeking:

Truly standardized processes

Software solutions that worked across all regions

Necessary add-on applications that could be integrated

Comprehensive training materials

There was no one software solution that could fulfill every need at this level. But we could standardize as much across the board as possible and go from there. We designed and integrated appropriate processes across the three countries and documented the foundation practices and frameworks. Then provided add-ons that fit at least a combination of countries and finally add-ons for each specific region.

From there we fit processes to software solutions:

Application components that could be used across the three regions

Applications that could be used by at least two regions

Add-on applications specific to one region

As I mentioned, this client and project was a great undertaking and I am so glad I was a part of it. I applaud this Japanese company for its progressiveness in an especially traditional industry. I created my business because I knew there were companies like this out there and I wanted to use my skills and my experience of Japan to work with them.

This company took steps toward true globalization and maximizing technology usage that many other Japanese companies in their industry or other industries should note.

In summary, I want to reiterate some the basic lessons that were instrumental in making this project a success:

When dealing with different languages even if your team has bilingual staff, for technologically advanced materials, use a professional translation or interpreting service

Having a visual representation of processes makes it easier to understand and ‘see’ the process of how things are done.

Analyze a client’s current state thoroughly and determine their desired future state

Document everything

Plan, Plan , Plan

Be flexible because it is NEVER possible to follow any plan to the letter.There will always be unforeseen events that necessitate changes along the way

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

In the Part 1 of this case study, I wrote about the importance of planning. After the establishment of Project and Communication plans and project scope, the first thing we had to do was to assess the current state of our client’s operations in each country by analyzing their SOPS.

Due to the technically of the SOPS, we had all Japanese SOPS translated into English by a professional translation service. I will take the time here to mention a valuable lesson I have learned over the years when dealing with different languages. Even if your team has bilingual staff, for technologically advanced materials, use a translation/interpreting firm.

We then documented the SOPs as visual workflows. Having a visual representation of processes reduces ambiguity and makes it easier for all to understand and ‘see’ the way things are done. This will help with any gap analysis later because you can actually see what is missing.

Monday, June 09, 2008

The challenge that this client faced was that they lacked a truly comprehensive knowledge base where information that was stored pertaining to products and testing could be 1.) entered by all related divisions across 3 regions: Japan, the U.S. and the UK, 2.) updated by different groups regardless of who originally entered the information, 3.) accessed simultaneously by different users as well as other requirements.

As I mentioned when I introduced this project, a communication plan was very important to ensuring the success of this project. We organized and prepared by:

Identifying all possibilities that could be identified in advance and prepared potential solutions.

Creating focused agendas for all meetings and distributed in advance so that all parties were prepared and on the same page before entering into any meeting.

Clearly defining goals for the sessions and at the end ensured that we achieved those goals or revised them if we could not.

Documenting decisions and actions items in all meetings in detail.

Standardizing documentation and other formats to ensure consistency and to take into consideration language comprehension and communication styles.

As this was a Japanese client, gaining consensus from all participants was key. Each region had input as to their specific needs as well as global needs that applied to all regions.

Simultaneously, project scope and all elements of work related to the project were defined. Our project leaders confirmed quality control details and work to ensure our path to production and project completion.

We mapped the course and our global team then began the real work . Our client was now going to see their innovative project start on the road to fruition.

We now needed to understand our client’s business. They had standard operating procedures but did they follow them?

Stay Tuned for Part 2 of Global Initiative, Global Solution on Wednesday.